Since this past New Year's Eve I have been struggling with an injured knee that became staph infected. I was hastily sent to the hospital for surgery that would need to be followed up with an IV pump for six weeks and numerous physical therapy sessions. Since I was so focused on my pain and recovery it seemed my other human frailties vanished. But as my health improved, the old battles returned and I would have to say I have been somewhat disappointed with myself, much like a smoker who quit smoking due to a long hospital stay but later returns to his old habit.
At the bottom of page 31 of THE RAGAMUFFIN GOSPEL, Brennan says:
"Often I've been asked, 'Brennan, how is it possible that you became an alcoholic after you got saved?' It is possible because I got battered and bruised by loneliness and failure, because I got discouraged, uncertain, guilt ridden, and took my eyes off of Jesus. Because the Christ-encounter did not transfigure me into an angel. Because justification by grace through faith means I have been set in right relationship with God, not made the equivalent of a patient etherized on a table."
I guess that makes me a fallen angel ragamuffin. No, just a plain old every day garden variety ragamuffin.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Beginning The Second Journey
Beginning the Second Journey
Friday, February 12, 2021 BEGINNING THE SECOND JOURNEY On September 17, 2010, I began my Second Journey. God is moving me in new direction...
Thanks Wally. Started my own Blog and went to Amazon to look at Ragamuffin. Several lost cost options out there
ReplyDeleteRagamuffin can also be found in most libraries.
ReplyDeleteI remember when Brennan Manning came to Olivet. We had been discussing the idea of "Living in the Tension" in our systematic theology class. Brennan was a great example of living in that tension. He was up there on the chapel stage, surrounded by a couple thousand college kids, and wearing a pair of designer jeans that someone had given him. Hippest old dude I had ever laid eyes on. Standing there talking about the issues that arise when being simultaneously an alcoholic and a man of the cloth.
ReplyDeleteMost of the mainstream christianity I've been exposed to attempts to smooth over the tension. It's sad, because we see the tension all over the life of Christ and scripture. The tension between legalism & lawlessness. The tension between the sacred & profane. The tension noted in Romans 7 when Paul talks about wanting to be one thing, but finding he's really something else. These tensions are all over the place, but christian sub culture usually tells us to smooth that tension out, and put a seamless facade out there for other people to see.
Sometimes I pray that we will see each other's seams, and that we'll be able to understand that we all live in the tension. That Christ joins us in the middle of that tension and stands by us.
Some really great thoughts Eric. I have been living that tension all my life and glad that the God of the holy tension accepts me where I'm at with a goal to take me farther down the road of being more like Him.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that you had such an encounter with Brennan Manning. I sounds like he made an impression on you. I know his writings have made an impression on me.